A Terrible Happening

The mother of NBC's Today Show personality Savannah Guthrie,

Nancy Guthrie has been abducted and is being held for ransom,

with her captor(s) demanding payment in Bitcoin for information

on Nancy's kidnapper(s). The FBI is conducting a fresh search of

Nancy's Catalina Foothills neighborhood north of Tucson, Arizona

to find the Guthrie matriarch and/or her abductor(s); Nancy Guthrie

has been missing since January 31, 2026.

On that date Nancy went to her family's home for a visit and to have 

dinner with them. At 9:48 PM, her garage door opened, then closed.

Police believed that this is when she returned home and was going 

to bed. On February 1 at 1:47 AM, the doorbell camera disconnected.

Software detected someone on camera but no video is available 

because the camera "loops". The detection was made at 2:12 AM.

At 2:28 AM her pacemaker disconnected. The family checked in on

Nancy at 11:56 AM  and drops of blood was found near her door. 

In a social media post, FBI Director Kash Patel shared some pictures 

of the alleged abductor for the first time. A former FBI agent told the 

Washington Post that the bizarre way in which the suspect carried his

gun, along with the slapdash way he tried to cover up a second camera,

pointed to an inexperienced criminal, at least when it comes to 

kidnappings. 

A plea for my readers in the Tucson vicinity: keep your eyes out for 

Nancy Guthrie. Nancy is 84 years old, stands 5'5" and weighs 150 

pounds, has brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen at her home 

on the evening of January 31, near East Skyline Drive and North 

Campbell Ave. It is not known what clothes she might be wearing.

If you see her or someone who looks like they may be her, please

call the Tuscon Police and/or the FBI to inform. It is not known at

this point in time if she is still alive. Time is truly of the essence.

And say a prayer for her swift and safe return to her family,

and that her kidnapper(s) are found and brought to justice.

The Guthries have no idea where Nancy is or what physical 

condition she is in. The Peasant thanks you all profusely and

gratefully, and thanks the New York Post for the detailed information

that they were able to obtain at this juncture. 

MEM

Apologies for My Unplanned Absence

Your beleaguered Peasant apologizes for my being away the past 

two weeks; place the blame on two culprits: frigid winter weather

and a bad back (strained muscles), both rendering me housebound.

The weather here in southeastern Wisconsin has warmed to normal

winter temperatures and my back is better so I have returned to be 

with you, my wonderful and understanding readers. In the meantime

I celebrated my birthday flat on my back in bed with my cell phone

within easy reach, getting calls from family and friends wishing me 

a happy birthday (my 68th) and snuggling up with Brownie, my 

affectionate cat. 

We shall resume our activities here on this blog, getting back down

to business in a few days. I should also inform you all that due to 

possibly more twists and turns in the weather, and should my back 

fail to hold up and/or if anything else in my body goes "SPROING!!!"

I shall post whenever I can, as often as I can. No particular day. 

At least Spring is now within sight; 6 1/2 more weeks and it's here! 

Then, if Old Man Winter would be good enough to pack his bags

and conclude his visit on schedule (for once!) things will be much

more comfortable around here. But for now, let's take things one 

day at a time and we'll get through all this successfully.

It's good to be back!

MEM

Goodbye and Get Lost!

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) has resigned from Congress

toward the end of 2025 and gave her departure date as January 5.

That date has been and gone, and with it her wacky stint in the House 

of Representatives. 

MTG has not distinguished herself in any positive way during her time 

there. She exited quite suddenly, likely to avoid a Trump-endorsed

primary candidate who would have easily won, her leaving also being

spurred by her badgering the Trump administration to release the 

supposed Epstein files. She ran out on her district constituents who

elected her (and they likely now regret having elected her in the 

first place and don't miss her one iota). National Review opined 

that "judging by her recent TV appearances, The View seems to suit 

her better than the U.S. House". Your bemused Peasant couldn't 

put it better. 

With all that's at stake in our country at this time, we can't afford to 

have to battle nitwits and loonies in our ranks rather than those in the

other party.

MEM

Scott Adams, R.I.P.

Anyone who has or has had a difficult job, or worked in 

a difficult workplace, or had a difficult boss were big fans 

of Adams and his comic strip character Dilbert, the very

intelligent and taken for granted engineer who is bedeviled

by a mean-spirited, stultifyingly stupid, self-serving boss

and by various dopey co-workers, whose ideas are ignored 

or set aside and forgotten about after he presents them at

departmental meetings, and is often assigned by his buffoon-

ish boss to perform tasks which are worthy of a clerk or some

other low-ranking staff member rather than a sharp, smart 

engineer, all while occupying a cubicle in the middle of all

this comedic hurly-burly. As one who has gone through much

of the same soul-sucking, gut-grinding, dignity-draining 

workplace indignations as the fictional hero of the downtrodden

employee which Adams brought to life had faced, your favorite

Peasant also revered both the put-upon cartoon engineer and his

creator. 

Dilbert was chiefly a comic strip which made mirthful fun of

the corporate world and how office life can descend into the 

ridiculous, the banal, the mind-bending, the ego-feeding, and 

the just plain dumb. Adams drew in a satirical way the 

social and psychological nomenclature of offices and the white-

collar employees who toiled in them, and also wrote books about

same with the same sharp-humored thrusts. Adams also had plenty 

of experiences of his own to draw from, working in offices and 

going through the rigmarol. 

Adams also did commentary on politics and events, writing and 

speaking from a libertarian perspective. He got into trouble 

when he said, on his livestream show Real Coffee With Scott Adams

in reaction to a poll which asked if respondents agreed that "it's OK 

to be white, a phrase labeled as racist by the Anti-Defamation League,

with 26% of black respondents and 21% were not sure, that blacks 

were a "hate group" and that "the best advice I could give to white 

people is to get the hell away from black people, just get the f*** 

away". In response to Adams' remarks, many newspapers across the 

country promptly dropped his comic strip Adams defended his words

as hyperbole and as taken out of context in reportage, disavowing 

racism and stated that nobody would disagree with what he said were 

his main points. 

Several months earlier Adams was diagnosed with prostate cancer,

which soon spread to his spine and other areas of his body. After a 

painful battle bravely waged, Scott Adams finally succumbed on 

January 13, aged 68. Dilbet is the biggest part of his legacy to the 

world, which is hungry for good comedy, including comedy with

a satirical bite --- especially for those troubled souls trapped in their

office cubicles, trying to outmaneuver their wretched bosses and to

outwit them and their not-so-bright co-workers while trying their  

damndest to get recognition for their contributions to the mission 

of the company. Rest in Peace and thanks for the target-hitting humor!

MEM

The New Year Begins With A Bang!

No sooner than your favorite Peasant returns from his

holiday break does he find a tsunami of political news

stories sweeping the country! I have always maintained 

that because I publish a political blog I never run out of

material to comment on! Ah, the blessing of an endless 

supply of stories! 

Starting next week I shall get back down to business and

share my insights with you, my dear and fantastic readers.

I am caught short with some other unexpected things as

we wade into 2026, but will have everything squared away

by next Thursday. Meanwhile your joyful Peasant is so glad

to be back with all of you!

So for now I say to you Happy New Year and let's make it 

a magnificent one!

MEM

Christmas is Coming ...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all, 

my grand and wonderful readers! Your favorite Peasant

extends his Holiday Greetings slightly earlier this year,

as I plan to take an extended Christmastime break.

I have plans to see several friends and to visit with 

a greatly beloved cousin on the phone, as my cousin

lives over 300 miles away and is unable to travel this

Christmas and I am feeling rushed off my feet with all

that I've done and all that I've planned to do at this truly

beautiful time of year. And the rest of the time I'm just

going to loaf around my home with my affectionate cat

Brownie. 

I shall also attend a few Masses at my church, did I tell

you that my church is right next door? Such a blessing!

The Holy Apostles Catholic Church is one of the reasons

why I rented my present place of residence. Very convenient 

and a wonderful place to worship. I have also made quite a few

friends there as well.

Your appreciative Peasant wishes all of you a beautiful, blessed,

heavenly Merry Christmas and a joyous, prosperous Happy New

Year! You are my gifts at Christmas and always!

Gloria in Excelsis Deo!

MEM

Getting Back to Daniel Penny ...

Daniel Penny, the Marine vet who restrained a violent homeless

man while riding the New York City Subway,  was acquitted in

December 2004 for the 2023 death of the erratically behaving 

rider whom Penny employed a chokehold upon in order to 

restrain him. The jury found Penny wasn't criminally reckless,

though prosecutors argued the force was excessive and prolonged,

with the case touching off a  nation-wide debate on mental health, 

vigilantism, and race. The family of Jordan Neely, the 30-year old

homeless man whom Penny had held back had filed a separate 

wrongful death lawsuit, the results of which The Peasant does not

have information on at present. Penny is white, and Neely was 

black.

Having quite some time ago blogged about this incident here on 

this blogsite, here are the facts of the story in order to refresh your

memories, my grand readers:

Neely was a mentally ill homeless man, and was acting erratically

and yelling on a subway train. He made the other passengers nearby

feel unsafe and fearful when Daniel Penny intervened, restraining 

Neely in a chokehold for several minutes during which Neely became

unresponsive. The NYC medical examiner ruled Neely's death a 

homicide due to compression of the neck.

Penny was charged with criminally negligent homicide and man-

slaughter but the latter charge was dismissed during the trial. 

Prosecutors argued Penny used excessive force for too long, while

the defense stated that he acted to protect others from a perceived 

threat. 

In December 2004, a jury acquitted Penny, finding he didn't act with

the criminal negligence required for a conviction. The case sparked 

nationwide debate on subway safety, mental health, race, and self-

defense. 

We have reason to rejoice in Daniel Penny being judged innocent of 

the charges against him. May he have as much good fortune in the 

wrongful death case brought against him. Meanwhile it looks like 

there is some justice for crime victims and heroic citizens in New 

York after all.

MEM